Driving my 87 S4 at 5 mph or less, Wendy’s drive through, I hit a dip and heard the car make contact with a metal grate under the front tires.

Suddenly total darkness and a dead engine. At first I thought it might be the T-belt. So I rolled her out of the way and took off the intake hoses, using the light of my cell phone to peer down into the vents. (it was so dark I didn’t have time to look for my flashlight)

After seeing that the belt was still there, I decided to give starting it a shot.

Car started up fine, but I noticed my radio code was on, which would mean total loss of power.

The culprit..

I have an aluminum splash guard. I think it got pushed up against the alternator causing a short and thus total power loss.

This ever happen to anybody?

Should I toss this thing and just free ball it? After all, I never drive in the rain, I think I'm going to take it off, anyone want to share some wisdom?

-Sam Johnson

78 Euro 5 speed
87 S4 5 speed

 

Maybe replace the shocks instead?

Has the car been lowered?

I would put it on a lift and find the source of the short and insulate it too.

 

Is the 'aluminum splash guard' your 'belly pan'?

 

I don't have a belly pan on mine, and no alternator ducting either. I've driven it like that for 5+ years, never had a problem.

 

Got tired on removing and installing the bell pan to work on the car. Since it seems that its on jack stands for mods, or something all the time I just leave them off.

Been like that now for years.

 

If your bottoming out in Wendy's drive throughs, it sounds like you shouldn't be eating at Wendy's...

Did the aluminum guard appear to have been pushed that far up? If it hit the alt, it shouldn't have shorted though, since the outer case is ground.

 

Good thing to check. The PO had my car much lower that spec. and now that height is correct to spec. I really don't have a bottoming out problem.

 

Very astute recommendation.

 

I forgot to mention, the car is lowered... alot. I'm used to bottoming out at very slow speeds in twisty New England parking lots, just not loosing all power for the instant it happens. Really it had to be the alternator wireing touching something, I'll know when I get it in the air. And yeah, wendy's aint great for your health either :P

 

Shoot, I can their chili all day long

Before you "freeball it" (that was pretty funny by the way) I would put a piece of 1/4 think adhesive rubber pad on the pan below the alt. If your alt did touch the pan last time, the rubber would stop it next time.

 

If the front main engine (FME) harness (from the starter to the alternator and across the front of the engine to the jump post connector) is in good shape then bottoming the car should have no effect on electrical power. You might also have a loose connection at the starter or jump post.

If this was my car, I'd be worried that some part of the FME harness is showing copper to the world. That harness has some very big wires that are unfused and is connected directly to the battery via the battery harness to the starter. I would get the car up and inspect carefully the entire length of this harness from starter to jump post and from the center timing belt cover to the ABS pump connection in front of the PS reservoir and check for loose connections along the way.

That said, you could have a loose battery cable and/or a loose engine ground cable. Check those first.

 

Wendy's has good food, the chili, salads ... too bad I can't resist the frosty and 1/4 lb double stacks.

 

I would recommend raising the ride height.

If you are bottoming out all the time it is only a matter of time till you hit the AC compressor and rip a hole in the side of your block or do other further damage.

 

+1

When I got my car, it had been lowered as well. Apart from bottoming out all the time, it was tough to control in bumpy corners, and I could not figure out why.

Then Marc at DEVEK corrected the ride height and re-aligned the car - the difference was like day and night. All of a sudden, the car handled precisely, rode comfortably, and just behaved much better overall. No more bottoming out at every bump, less worries about the AC compressor and block - a relatively small price for the loss of "coolness" in the "looks department".

But that's just my personal opinion.

I seriously hope you can figure out what happened here, and fix it permanently.

Best of luck!